The present invention relates to a data carrier, in particular an identity card, paper of value or the like, having a plane element (OVD) with optically variable effects which are dependent on the viewing angle, and to a method for producing such a data carrier.
To protect data carriers it is known to use optically variable devices (OVDs) whose visual effect is based on diffraction, interference or the like. In this connection one particularly uses holograms, cinegrams, diffraction grids and interference layer elements for protecting credit cards, identity cards, bank notes, security documents and the like. Such devices meet the traditional security requirements for humanly testable authenticity features, i.e. high manufacturing effort, on the one hand, and clear testability without any additional aid, on the other hand. OVDs furthermore correspond to the newest state of the art so that they give the associated product a modern high-technology character.
Due to the high manufacturing effort, embossed holograms, for example, are relatively expensive, which has up to now restricted their use as carriers of individual information. An economically reasonable production of holograms has been possible up to now only in high piece numbers. To increase protection against forgery and to obtain further individualization of series of cards or single cards, however, there is a need to make holograms having the same appearance distinguishable from each other by additional measures or to permit a certain degree of individualization in the area of the hologram despite the use of like holograms. These additional measures would make different cards visually distinguishable in the hologram area as well although the holograms themselves show no direct difference.
In the ideal case these measures should also be suitable for including the individual data which are associated, for example, only with the justified user of an identity card. The problem is thus to individualize standard holograms produced in large series no later than upon application of the holograms to a data carrier in such a way that they are specific only to this one data carrier or at least only to a limited number of data carriers.
The invention is therefore based on the problem of proposing a data carrier having an optically variable device, in particular a hologram, wherein the optically variable device is individualized by additional measures.